Muttface

Excellent point. Guys that get huffy with beginners or high handicappers typically have other personality or life issues and life is too short to spend time near them. They can wallow in their arrogance with somebody else who might be impressed by it. Most players (myself included) are not good enough to get torqued off with beginners. I've almost always enjoyed playing with beginners, if for no other reason than to watch their facial expressions and share their jubilation when they really get hold of one and make a really nice golf shot. It's fun to watch the game grab them. As mentioned above, just keep moving the ball. Play briskly, but don't rush. If I'm just having one of those holes that's rapidly approaching double digits with no end in sight and the course is busy and I feel I'm holding the rest of the group up, I'll pick up and tend the flag or fix some ball marks until the others are holed out. Good etiquette and a good attitude makes up for a lot of "sins". Most area's have courses that tend to lean towards beginners or the more non-serious players and you may enjoy them more. We've got a little 9-hole municipal course here in Nashville (all par 4's and 3's) that tends to attract a very easy-going, friendly types of golfer of all skill levels. You've probably got something like that out there and a less intimidating atmosphere will do wonders for your game.

Go down to your Play It Again sports or get on Craigs List or Ebay and get yourself a set of used clubs for $100 to $200 (or less). They won't be the latest and greatest, but the money you save can be plowed into lessons with a good teacher. That way you can start off properly without ingraining bad habits that can stick with you for years. If you have the need to dump money, test out a hundred putters and spend the money on the one that feels and works the best for you. A deadly putter is worth more in value and will positively effect your game more than the highest priced fancy full swing clubs you can find.

I second this one, real persimmon wood compressing a balata-covered wound ball. Nothing will ever quite match it, except perhaps the sound of real metal spikes on concrete or asphalt.

I owe all of you gents a thank-you. The used FT-i arrived from Callaway Pre-owned last week and I was finally able to get to the range and air it out last evening. The first thing that popped into my mind was that line from Woody Harrelson's bowling movie "Kingpin": "Sweeter than YooHoo...". Nothing went right unintentionally as the Hyper X had been doing but instead straight or slight draw. Looked like decent distance but was not able to compare hard numbers yet as the range is poorly marked. I did find that by purposely slashing at the ball it would fade or slice so there is some workability there if I ever get good enough to control it. Had a guy do a driver fitting a few weeks ago and he was steering me towards the Nike products (ostensibly because I was hitting my wife's Sasquatch at the time but also possibly because it was a day before their big "buy a driver get a free fairway wood" deal commenced. What came out of the fitting was that I needed the senior flex with a higher loft due to a slow swing. The "new" FT-i is the light regular flex, 13°, stock shaft with low kickpoint and is going to provide a lot of confidence. I think I'll be happy with it, thanks again for the recommendations.

Good points. Try some 100% acrylic socks too. Don't use cotton or cotton blends as they get saturated and make your feet even softer and more prone to blistering and damage. It would not hurt to change them at the turn either; it will feel like you just got a second wind.

I've got graphite on my Tour Edge game improvement irons, and Callaway fairways and driver, and prefer it over steel. I've got a fairly steep iron swing and the graphite supposedly will dampen the impact which is better for joints but bad for "feel". My swing speed is low also (low to mid 80's at best) and although I've no hard numbers, the shafts (regular flex) seem to me to be more whippy compared to regular flex steel and I think provide a bit more distance. I should probably be playing A flexes, and have even considered woman's flex to try and get some more head speed. Graphite gives you that option. The forgiveness for mis-hits built into the GI heads would ostensibly detract from the ability to work the ball but I've noticed I can still slice and hook inadvertently so a better player should still be able to steer it in the correct direction when he wants to. Your best bet is to just go out and hit them and see what you can do.

I was playing a Steelhead III driver up until about a month ago. I'd tried a few of the newer drivers in the stores a couple of years ago but was having difficulty getting past the size of them. To be honest however, I'm just plain stubborn. One of the top 100 teachers in the country did her best to get me to buy or at least try something more modern but I refused thinking that if I could learn to hit the small headed driver it would help improve my swing. Then one day in March I took my wife's Sasquatch Sweet 16 out for 9 holes and was just blown away: even with the 16° loft I was getting better distance and hit the fairway every time it came out of the bag. I swing slow so the whippy shaft certainly helped, but the confidence gained by that huge sweet spot was the cincher. My new/used Ft-i just arrived today from Callaway pre-owned and I'm looking forward to trying it out this weekend. My Steelhead III 3- & 5-woods are still in the bag however and I won't give them up anytime soon, mostly because I've not yet found anything better. In short---and in retrospect---it is almost foolish to not take advantage of the newer driver technology (and that's coming from a very hardheaded stubborn old goat). You can get a killer deal on a 1- or 2-year old driver that will give you confidence and improve your game almost immediately.

They might not look like beefcake models but they have to be in reasonable shape just to walk the courses they play four or five times per week for most of the year. What's a tour course measure, 7500 yards or more? They are walking over four miles during a round and that's just tee to green mileage, not including the ancillary distances between holes and just normal daily life mileage. That distance is not much for a young guy but for a 40+ something it's a hike. And contrast that with your everyday lard butt who gets his bloomers in a wad when it's cart path only or when they can't get that parking spot right next to the clubhouse door. They're waddling around making wheezing noises and complaining about slow players ahead of them. I myself would love to have Angel's endurance.

5'-9", and grip down on a 33" almost to the shaft metal. Attended one of the Dave Pelz clinics and his minions/disciples there were all using cut-down putters that looked like something a child would use. We thought it was some kind of joke but they were serious about it and were deadly with them. If you see pictures of Dave he actually uses one of those little sawed-off things. Not sure exactly what they measure in as, but if I had to guess I'd say approaching 30", possibly less.

Thanks for the feedback. Not my intent to divert the thread but it seemed relevant to the original question. I recently upgraded to a Hyper-X from an old Steelhead III, but can't keep it from going right. Callaway Pre-Owned has decent prices on FT-i's and they offer trade-in credit on the Hyper so the FT-i draw seemed like a logical investment. I've hit one on a simulator at Golf Galaxy and liked the feel but don't trust the distance readouts. Some of the feedback and reviews floating around out there about the FT-i claim that distance may be compromised but as you mentioned, remaining in the fairway with confidence is worth a bit of distance.

I used to hit off a mat in my yard by pushing a couple of those large aluminum gutter spikes through the back edge of it and into the turf. However, I found out that hitting off the mat was one of the best and most efficient ways to damage a swing and a golf game in general. Unless you are also standing on a mat you always have a sidehill lie. You can also groove a fat hitting swing and never know it. And you will rarely get as perfect a lie in the real world on grass. This has I know been debated here to some extent. You might save a few bucks by not using the range but is it worth it?

for you guys hitting the older FT-i's (i.e. not the iQ's), have you found the distance satisfactory compared to other drivers you may have tried?

Major irritation, to the point where I'll hit the mute button just the guy's swing is started. Was really surprised that the Augusta boys did not have them (or him, my wife claims it's the same guy that travels around) physically removed. It's bad for the image of the sport.

I've been playing the Staff 50's as well as the Zips since last summer and have not noticed any difference between the two with my limited skills. Decent spin and distance and the prices are right. They seem to be very durable also as I've retired a few that just would not come clean any more but were still play-able as far as cuts and scuffs. I gravitated to them because they are supposedly good for slower swing speeds. The only thing I don't like about them is the visual of the shallow, flat bottom dimples. Don't know if they aerodynamically add or decrease distance compared to the more traditional round bottom dimples but for now it is just aesthetics and they play ok. Golf Digest just gave the Zip a good review.

Yes, it is possible to play well, really well, while being distance challenged. I played a couple of months ago with a guy who is 83 years old and he kicked my butt all over the course. He had a set of old cavity backs and metals that were at least 10 years old and was probably lucky to get 160 yards off the tee. He compensated with accuracy, smart course management and one---or at most two---putting every green. He knew his limitations and worked around them. It did not hurt that he plays almost every day and walks the courses and is in fantastic shape for a guy his age. He is also very feisty and will probably be playing for many years to come. Golf is more mental than physical and that guy proved it.

I've been using the IC 2020 since last July or so (the largest one that looks like a big branding iron). I demoed probably over 50 different putters over the course of several weeks before plunking down $180 on the 2020 (wanted to be very careful). The demo/practice greens in the stores might have been hole-friendly, but the putts off the 2020 for me seemed to drop more often. It felt a bit weird at first because with the head flat on the ground my hands were behind the face and I could not get any distance. Once I learned to make a slight forward press and lead the face it's been very effective. It's definitely much easier to line up: the hype about the green color with contrasting alignment marks actually seems to work for me. I've been very happy with it.

One of the best jobs I ever had was working on the maintenance crew at a private country club right out of college before landing a "real" job. Out at dawn to cut the greens and change the cups, riding the three wheeler trap rake, and cutting the fringes and first cut of the rough. It was pleasant work out in nature and no boss looking over my shoulder all the time. We finished up around 2 or 2:30 every day and got to play free with a cart Monday thru Thursdays after work. It unfortunately did not pay real well but at the time my expenses were minimal anyway and it was the only way to play on a really nice exclusive course. Enjoy it!